ok, so I've been a really bad mommy... our Baby Molly is now 2 years old and i've been feeding her nothing but Dry Purina One cat food.

I'm planing on switching her over to Wellness, (i dont' think she will mind at all) my dilema is ... the bag of Purina one is finished and I was going to get a new bag today... but now we all this new information I plan on a rewamp.
Not sure what to do ... do I get another bag of Purina one and then start with introducing her to Welness Canned OR ? Do I can a bag of Dry Core and Canned wellness and start her on both of them...
I did switch her food from Royal to Purina when she was about one and she had no issue with it at all ... and She constantly eats out of my mom's dog bowl, when we dog sit.

Oh gosh, you are so NOT a bad mommy!! That's fabulous that you're interested in feeding Molly a better diet. Has she had canned food before? If so, and you know that she'll eat it, I say just go straight for the canned. If she needs more of a transition period, than a combo of Wellness Core and canned would be fine, although I'd eventually work towards an all wet diet if possible.

I agree with sugarcatmom - if you have an easy transistioner, skip the dry altogether. If it looks like Molly isn't jumping on the wet train just yet, you can supplement with some dry, and Wellness CORE would be a great food to do it with.. If you are really worried, you can pick up a trial bag (I know they have them for Orijen which is another good grain free dry) for a couple of bucks to get you through.

Good luck and welcome!

btw. you're not a bad mommy at all! I had my guy on Iams for 9 years because I didn't know any better - I actually thought I was doing good by him because it cost more than other grocery store brands!

so Molly didn't jump at the wet food , she looked at me strange and very puzzeled. No she has never had wet food but I always found that given the chance she would have had it. Anyway I rub a bit of the food on her gums and she licked it of,she has eaten about a teaspoon full. Now she is licking her dry food bowl (which is empty). I stop off at pet value on the way home but they only had wellness regular dry food. So I ended up getting another bag of purina,just incase. I will leave the wet food in her bowl,until bed time and I will remove it and try again tomorrow morning for breakfast.
Just wondering how much I should be feeding her,about 1/4 of the can?
Can't remember but I think last July she weight 9lbs,and the vet thought she was getting on the heavy side.

so Molly didn't jump at the wet food , she looked at me strange and very puzzeled. No she has never had wet food but I always found that given the chance she would have had it.

A cat's food preferences are often determined in kittenhood, making them quite suspicious of new foods later in life. It's not at all unusual that Molly gave you a weird look. In this situation, it's best to take it slow and steady. What I would do is put a tsp of canned on a plate next to her dry food. You can leave it there for hours, maybe refreshing it with a new one every so often. She may eat it, she may not. The goal is to just get her accustomed to the new smell (cat's appetites are mostly based on smell). After a few days of that, you can put a teensy dab in the bottom of the bowl of dry. Don't feed her too much dry, just a measured portion that she finishes after a few hours, and hopefully the canned along with it. Slowly increase the amount of canned in proportion to the dry.

Other techniques are to make the canned seem more familiar by top-dressing it with pulverized kibble or treats, or making it more enticing than suspicious with stuff like tuna juice or plain meat (no onions) baby food.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claud26

I will leave the wet food in her bowl,until bed time and I will remove it and try again tomorrow morning for breakfast.

You can leave the canned out all night if you like, it won't spoil. I do it all the time. Just replace it with fresh in the morning. Also, it's important to make sure she doesn't go more than 24hrs without eating, which can result in something called hepatic lipidosis. That's why I prefer making a slow switch if there's some resistance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claud26

Just wondering how much I should be feeding her,about 1/4 of the can?
Can't remember but I think last July she weight 9lbs,and the vet thought she was getting on the heavy side.

The general guideline is about 20-30 calories per pound of ideal body weight per day. So if her ideal weight is, let's say 8 lbs, then she needs somewhere in the vicinity of 160-240 cal/day. Depending on the flavour of Wellness you're feeding, they average about 200 cal per 5.5oz can. That's a long-winded way of saying I think you should feed her a full can per day, and if she gains weight, cut back, if she loses (too much) weight, give her more. It may be more complicated than that if she's also eating dry, but I think the eventual goal should be a full can with no dry. For now, just see how much you can get her to eat. And good luck!! Happy eating vibes for Molly.